Through Resolution No.887-AL of March 23, 2023, the Ministry of Education announced that all schools and colleges in the country are obliged to adopt measures aimed at avoiding discriminatory acts against students of any ethnicity and culture.
Cases such as: condition enrollment and student access due to their ethnicity and culture; prohibit students of African descent from using their natural hair, traditional hairstyles or protective styles, such as afro, braids, bows, among others.
Likewise, the Ministerial Resolution establishes that the use of veils and clothing according to ethnicity and culture, among others, cannot be prohibited.
«As of the date, all official and private educational centers must incorporate into their internal regulations and agreements of commitments the preventive actions to avoid discrimination or distinction due to cultural, religious, language, linguistic, traditional aspects, instituted in this Resolution , as well as the various Protocols on discrimination approved by the Ministry of Education» reads the legal instrument signed by Maruja Gorday de Villalobos, head of the portfolio.
In Resolution No.887-AL of March 23, 2023, it is indicated that the adaptations of the internal regulations of schools and colleges must be fulfilled in a period not exceeding six (6) months.
“This Resolution has the objective of establishing general school coexistence rules, applicable to all official and private educational centers, actions, initiatives and programs that promote the creation of a school environment that facilitates the integral, educational development of students, in a climate of inclusive, participatory, supportive, peaceful and respectful coexistence, with a human rights approach” is stated in the legal instrument issued, in whose discussion process the Ombudsman of the Republic of Panama, the Directorate of the Ethnic Groups of the Mayor’s Office of Panama and the National Secretariat for the Development of Afro-Panamanians -SENADAP-
